In a previous article, I examined Śrī Jīva Goswami’s definition of bhakti. Here I will present Śrī Jīva Goswami’s classification scheme in Anuccheda 217 of the Bhakti Sandarbha, in which he details the different sub-types of bhakti. Āropa-siddhā, Saṅga-siddhā, and Svarūpa-siddhā-bhakti Śrī Jīva Goswami divides bhakti into three […]
In the Bhakti Sandarbha, Śrī Jīva Goswami describes a large number of different types of bhakti. He begins by first defining bhakti. Definitions are all-important, as stated in the principle: lakṣaṇa-pramāṇābhyāṁ vastu-siddhiḥ , na tu kevala-pratijñā-mātreṇa – An object is determined by its defining characteristics ( lakṣaṇa ) […]
From Babaji’s commentary on Anuccheda 202.4 from the Bhakti Sandarbha: The śikṣā-guru and dīkṣā-guru are one and the same person Śrī Jīva makes a distinction between the śravaṇa-guru (the inceptive instructor) and the śikṣā-guru (the formal preceptor). Usually they are the same person. First, an aspirant begins to […]
A reader recently suggested that the definition of uttamā bhakti I have written about is incorrect, and that Śrī Jīva is actually teaching something different. I will examine the argument below. Claim: The svarūpa-lakṣaṇa and taṭastha-lakṣaṇa (that I discussed here as the lakṣaṇas of uttamā bhakti) are actually […]
In previous articles, I discussed the characteristics of the uttama and madhyama bhāgavatas as explained in the Bhakti Sandarbha. Here, I examine Śrī Jīva’s explanation of the characteristics of the kaniṣṭha bhāgavata presented in the Bhakti Sandarbha Anuccheda 190. He writes: atha bhagavad-dharmācaraṇa-rūpeṇa kāyikena kiñcin mānasena ca liṅgena […]
A reader suggested that the dharma taught in the Bhāgavatam cannot be isolated from varṇāśrama dharma, as the word ‘dharma’, as used in the Bhāgavatam, carries the same meaning and connotation as in any other śruti [i.e. the Vedas]. But does Śrī Jīva Goswami agree with such a […]
This article is motivated by a reader’s comment on a previous article. It was proposed that anyone who succeeds on the path of bhakti must have been part of the three varṇas – brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya or vaiśya – in a previous life. I responded with the example of […]
Śrī Babaji answers questions in Pearls of Wisdom Question: What is dīkṣā? Does it refer to getting Hari-nāma and taking a different name? Or does it refer to getting brāhmaṇa initiation, when one gets the Brahma Gāyatrī? Answer: There are three levels of dīkṣā, namely, harināma-dīkṣā, mantra-dīkṣā, and veśa- […]
The Caitanya tradition, being based squarely on the Bhāgavata purāṇa, has a different understanding of bhakti as compared to other Vaisnava traditions such as the Madhva tradition or the Śrī Vaisnava tradition. Unlike these other traditions, in the Caitanya tradition, bhakti and varṇāśrama are two different or distinct […]
Maharajji answers questions in Śrī Guru Darśanam, pp. 249-250 Question: What are the qualifications for someone to do this līlā-smaraṇam? Answer: The qualification for smaraṇam is that one should be free from the identification with the body and the senses. If one identifies with these things and does līlā-smaraṇam, […]
Chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra is the main sādhānā in the Caitanya tradition. Incredibly, the vast majority of chanters get the mantra hopelessly wrong.
We hear that the gopīs are married to the gopas, and not to Kṛṣṇa. The gopīs accept Kṛṣṇa as their lover, or paramour. Isn’t this highly immoral? Many bhaktas think that the topic is beyond discussion given the conditioned nature of the jīvas and therefore is not to […]
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